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New Louisiana Law Will Jail Journos for Publishing Gun Info

Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Mother Jones - By Gavin Aronsen - May. 23 (News Report) - On Tuesday, the Louisiana Senate passed a bill that would imprison and fine journalists who intentionally publish information about the state's concealed-carry handgun permit holders. Reporters who violate the law would face penalties of up to $10,000, six months in jail, or both; public safety officials and police officers who leak permit information to the press would face penalties of up to $500, six months in jail, or both. J

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CALIFORNIA VOTERS HAMMERED BY PROVISIONAL BALLOTS -

Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

bbvforums.org - By Bev Harris - May. 22 (Investigative Report) - More than one in ten voters who shows up at the polls in California is being given a provisional ballot.

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5 Things You Need to Know in the Inspector General's IRS Tea Party Scandal Report

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Mother Jones - By Andy Kroll - May. 16 (News Analysis) - On Tuesday evening, the Treasury Department released a long-awaited investigative report on why IRS staffers gave special scrutiny to the applications of thousands of right-leaning groups seeking tax-exempt nonprofit status. Treasury's Inspector General for Tax Administration conducted the probe from June 2012 to February 2013 in response to pressure from Congress, and the 54-page report sheds light on the whole debacle. Here are five key takeaways from the report. Continue Reading ...

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Nawaz Sharif poised to return as Pakistan PM

Sun, 12 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

aljazeera.com - May. 12 (Breaking News) - Nawaz Sharif, winner of the Pakistani elections, is holding talks to form a new government, with fixing the economy and tackling the armed insurgency likely to be his two biggest challenges. Partial, unofficial results from Saturday's elections represented a comeback for Sharif, 63, who was deposed as prime minister in a 1999 military coup and spent years in jail and exile.

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Cops Beat Woman For Filming Another Beating

Sat, 11 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Ryan Abbott - May. 11 (News Report) - Baltimore police beat up a woman and smashed her camera for filming them beating up a man, telling her: "You want to film something bitch? Film this!" the woman claims in court. Makia Smith sued the Baltimore Police Department, Police Commissioner Anthony Batts and police Officers Nathan Church, William Pilkerton, Jr., Nathan Ulmer and Kenneth Campbell in Federal Court.

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"Over the Line": U.S. Agents Shooting Dead Innocent Mexicans Across the Border With Impunity

Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - May. 07 (Special Report) - A joint investigation by The Washington Monthly and The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute has found over the past five years U.S. border agents have shot across the border at least 10 times, killing a total of six Mexicans on Mexican soil. The killings have gone unpunished after a court ruled the Mexican victims have no standing to sue in U.S. courts since they died on their own soil. Investigative reporter John Carlos Frey writes: "The picture that emerges from this investigation is of an agency operating with thousands of poorly trained rookies and failing to provide the kind of transparency, accountability, and clear rules of engagement that Americans routinely expect of law enforcement agencies." Frey joins us to discuss the shootings, and why he fears that the current immigration consensus in Washington on "border security" could increase Mexico's civilian toll.

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Justice Sandra Day O’Connor: Maybe Bush v. Gore Wasn't the Best Decision

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Ian Millhiser - Apr. 29 (News) - Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the conservative retired justice who provided the fifth vote to install George W. Bush as president, is now having second thoughts about that decision: Looking back, O’Connor said, she isn’t sure the high court should have taken [Bush v. Gore].

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The Changing Facts in the Boston Investigation

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Alex Seitz Wald - Apr. 27 (News Analysis) - n the aftermath of massive, complicated crimes it's not uncommon for a bit of crucial information to be immediately put forward by police, only to be contradicted later on. While it's understandable that initial leads and assertions might end up being wrong in a dynamic situation like the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing, wholesale contradictions can encourage skepticism of the motives of those releasing inaccuracies

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Into the Fire - The Hidden Victims of Austerity in Greece

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

ReelNews - Apr. 24 (Special Report) - Video

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The Persecution of Lynne Stewart

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Chris Hedges - Apr. 22 (Special Report) - Lynne Stewart, in the vindictive and hysterical world of the war on terror, is one of its martyrs. A 73-year-old lawyer who spent her life defending the poor, the marginalized and the despised, including blind cleric Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, she fell afoul of the state apparatus because she dared to demand justice rather than acquiesce to state sponsored witch hunts. And now, with stage 4 cancer that has metastasized, spreading to her lymph nodes, shoulder, bones and lungs, creating a grave threat to her life, she sits in a prison cell at the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, where she is serving a 10-year sentence.

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Will the "Koch Brothers Bill" Make Industrial Accidents More Likely?

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Mother Jones - By Tim Murphy - Apr. 22 (Investigative Report) - Last Wednesday"s explosion at a West, Texas, fertilizer plant, which left at least 15 people dead and more than a hundred injured, was made possible by an ultra-lax state- and federal oversight climate that make inspections of such facilities all but a rubber-stamp process—when they even happen. If the chemical lobby and its allies in Congress get their way, a regulatory process dismissed by environmental activists and labor unions as extremely weak would be watered down even more.

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What America's Leaving Behind in Afghanistan: Trained Militias Accused of Rape and Murder

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Jennifer Norris - Apr. 21 (News Report) - Despite some success in achieving security gains, the ALP program has been plagued by such problems as Taliban infiltration and insider attacks. But most controversially, ALP units have been accused of committing serious human rights abuses against local populations with apparent impunity.

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While West, Texas, Burned, Its Famous Czech Bakery Kept the Kolaches Coming

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Mother Jones - By Dana Liebelson, Jaeah Lee, Tasneem Raja - Apr. 19 (News Report) - There's a Czech bakery, deli, and gas station combo in tiny West, Texas that's world-famous for serving up fruit kolaches and hot chubbies to locals and tourists driving on I-35 between Dallas and Austin, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for the last 29 years. Last night was no exception. In the wake of the massive explosion and fire that rocked a fertilizer plant just three miles down the road, Czech Stop kept its doors open—and the kolaches coming—almost without interruption. "I rushed up there after it happened because one of my employees said the ceiling was falling in," says Barbara Schissler, president of the Czech Stop empire, who"s worked there since it opened in 1983. "One of our freelance carpenters recommended that we close the doors, but when I showed up, I saw only the ceiling tiles were buckling, so I reopened.

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Mormon Church Abandons Its Crusade Against Gay Marriage

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Mother Jones - By Stephanie Mencimer - Apr. 12 (News Analysis) - Last month, hundreds of boisterous protesters converged in Washington, DC, as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Hollingsworth v. Perry , the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of California's anti-gay marriage initiative, Proposition 8. Faith-based groups were on prominent display: the Methodists supporting marriage equality, the Westboro Baptists suggesting (per usual) that "God hates fags," the Catholics both for and against gay marriage, clergy of all stripes. But one group that wasn't there in any official capacity was the Church of Latter Day Saints—a.k.a. the Mormons—which perhaps more than any other religious group was responsible for getting Prop. 8 passed in the first place. In the five years since the LDS church sent busloads of the faithful to California to canvass neighborhoods, and contributed more than $20 million via its members to support the initiative, it has all but dropped the rope in the public policy tug of war over marriage equality. The change ...

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Full Transcript and Audio of Mitch McConnell Campaign's Meeting on Ashley Judd

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Mother Jones - Apr. 09 (Special Report) - More Mother Jones coverage of Mitch McConnell and the 2014 Kentucky Senate race. On February 2, Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate GOP leader facing reelection next year, held a private meeting at his Louisville, Kentucky, campaign headquarters with several aides to discuss opposition research collected on his potential challengers and how best to defeat possible foes. Much of the conversation focused on actor/activist Ashley Judd, who at the time was the most prominent of McConnell's potential Democratic opponents, and McConnell and his aides considered assailing Judd for her past struggles with depression and for her religious views. (Judd has since announced she will not run against McConnell.) Mother Jones has obtained a recording of the meeting. Here is the article based on the recording. Below is a complete transcript of the recording. Sen. Mitch McConnell: If I could interject…I assume most of you have played the, the game Whac-A-Mole? [ Laughter. ] This is the ...

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Inside the NRA's Koch-Funded Dark Money Campaign

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Mother Jones - By Peter Stone - Apr. 02 (Special Report) - "This election is going to be won on the ground," Chris Cox, the National Rifle Association's top lobbyist, told me early last year as the gun lobby prepared to launch its all-out campaign to defeat Barack Obama. Historically, pro-gun voters have favored Republicans by a margin of 2- or 3-to-1, but that only matters if they vote. And, Cox stressed, millions of gun owners were not registered yet. See our full special report on gun laws and the rise of mass shootings in America. The NRA's get-out-the-vote effort, its most ambitious ever, would target gun owners from all angles. Its field workers would register them at gun shows and gun shops in battleground states such as Florida, Ohio, and Virginia. The NRA spent millions on TV spots; one seven-figure ad buy last October attacked the president for "chipping away" at Second Amendment rights, urging Americans to "defend freedom." Chuck Norris, a spokesman for the NRA's Trigger the Vote campaign, warned apathetic gun owners , "I'll come ...

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Will Congress Stop US Support for Honduras' Death Squad Regime?

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Mark Weisbrot - Apr. 01 (Special Report) - Five young men walk down a quiet street in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. A big black SUV pulls up, followed by a second vehicle. Two masked men with bullet-proof vests jump out of the lead car, with AK-47s raised. The two youths closest to the vehicles see that they have no chance of running, so they freeze and put their hands in the air. The other three break into a sprint, with bullets chasing after them from the assassins' guns. Miraculously, they escape, with one injured - but the two who surrendered are forced to lie face down on the ground. The two students, who were brothers 18- and 20-years-old, are murdered with a burst of bullets, in full view of the camera. Less than 40 seconds after their arrival, the assassins are driving away, never to be found. The high level of professional training and modus operandi of the assassins have led many observers to conclude that this was a government operation.

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Ed Rendell Backs Fracking, Fails to Mention His Industry Ties

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Mother Jones - By Justin Elliott, ProPublica - Mar. 30 (Investigative Report) - This story first appeared on the ProPublica website. Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell took to the New York Daily News op-ed page Wednesday with a message to local officials: stop worrying and learn to love fracking. As New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo agonizes over whether to allow the controversial natural gas drilling technique, Rendell invoked his own experience as a Democratic governor who presided over a fracking boom. New York state, Rendell argued, has a major part to play in the nation's fracking "revolution" 2014 and it can do so safely. He rejected what he called the "false choice" of "natural gas versus the environment." What Rendell's passionate plea failed to note was this: since stepping down as governor in 2011, he has worked as a paid consultant to a private equity firm with investments in the natural gas industry. The op-ed piece was widely noted in other media outlets, and Cuomo wound up being asked about it during a radio appearance on Wednesday. The New York State ...

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Jorge Mario Bergoglio Accused Of Involvement In 1976 Abductions

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - Mar. 13 (Special Report) - Bergoglio was a high-ranking official in the Society of Jesus of Argentina when a military junta was installed in the South American country in 1976. According to the Los Angeles Times, priests Orlando Yorio and Francisco Jalics were kidnapped in May of that year by the navy. "They surfaced five months later, drugged and seminude, in a field," the Times reported. A 2005 lawsuit accused Bergoglio of unspecified involvement in the abductions. Reuters explains that "the military government secretly jailed [Yorio and Jalics] for their work in poor neighborhoods." A spokesman for Bergoglio called the claims "old slander."

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After Sandy, Government Lends to Rebuild in Flood Zones

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0800

ProPublica - By Robert Lewis, Special to ProPublica, Al Shaw, ProPublica - Mar. 06 (Investigative Report) - If Staten Island’s Great Kills Marina Café is able to reopen this spring after Sandy ripped apart its interior – blowing out windows and punching through walls – it will be thanks to assistance from the federal government. Interactive Map See where the SBA is lending to rebuild The Small Business Administration has approved the restaurant for a disaster loan of almost $1 million. There’s just one problem: Newly drawn FEMA flood maps show the cafe is at high risk of flooding again, raising the question of whether it makes sense to rebuild there or move elsewhere.

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Polls open in tense Kenya presidential race

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0800

aljazeera.com - Mar. 04 (News Report) - Polls have opened in Kenya for the first presidential election since deadly ethnic violence that killed more than 1,200 people after a 2007 ballot. The two rivals for the presidency, prime minister Raila Odinga and his deputy Uhuru Kenyatta, have publicl

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‘Homeland Security’

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0800

nationofchange.org - By Chris Hellman, Mattea Kramer - Mar. 01 (News Analysis) - Homeland security is supposed to be the actual “defense” department—since the Pentagon is essentially a Department of Offense—and it’s rife with all the same issues and defects that critics of the military-industrial complex have decried for decades. In other words, “homeland security” has become another obese boondoggle.

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Should Cops Be Allowed to Seize Your DNA?

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0800

Mother Jones - By Erika Eichelberger - Feb. 26 (News Analysis) - On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that will decide whether cops should be allowed to force people they arrest to give a DNA sample. Since the early 1990s, 26 states have passed laws requiring DNA to be collected upon arrest for a serious offense, and loaded into a national database, where it can help match offenders to unsolved crimes. This is the first time the Supreme Court has reviewed this practice, and the case promises to produce one of the most significant Fourth Amendment rulings in years. The case at hand, Maryland v. King , centers around Alonzo King, who was arrested in 2009 after he was accused of pointing a gun at a group of people in Maryland. The police took his fingerprints and swabbed the inside of his cheek for DNA. King was convicted on assault charges and sentenced to four years in jail, but when his DNA profile was found to match evidence from an unsolved 2003 rape case, he was charged with that crime and sentenced to life in prison. King ...

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Chris Christie Medicaid Plan To Offer Coverage To Poor New Jersey Residents

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By The Huffington Post News Team - Feb. 26 (News Report) - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie became the eighth Republican governor to back expanding Medicaid under President Barack Obama's health care reform law on Tuesday. Christie, a potential 2016 presidential contender who is up for reelection this year, defied

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EXCLUSIVE: Rarely Seen Film "King: A Filmed Record" Traces MLK's Struggle from Montgomery to Memphis

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Martin Luther King Jr.,Amy Goodman - Feb. 25 (Special Report) - In a Black History Month special, we air excerpts of a rarely seen Oscar-nominated documentary about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the rise of the civil rights movement. Produced by Ely Landau, "King: A Filmed Record...Montgomery to Memphis" is made from original newsreel footage and other original video footage shot of marches, rallies and church services. "King" was originally screened for one night only in 1970 in more than 600 theaters across the United States, but has rarely been seen since. We air extensive footage of the film, featuring a historic look at the eight-year period that led up to the 1963 March on Washington, D.C. [includes rush transcript - partial. More to come. Check back soon.]

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